Collar supporting device



Jan. 27, 1959 J. w. STEELE 2,

COLLAR SUPPORTING DEVICE Filed Oct. 11, 1957 INVENTOR. d. M 'fee/e,

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"COLLAR SUPPORTING DEVICE James W. SteeleQNorth Kansas City, Mo. Application October 11, 1957, Serial No. 689,695

2 Claims. (21. 223-43 p This invention pertains to laundry accessories and particularly to reinforcing or supporting devices such as are used in bracing and supporting the collar portions of collar-attached garments, such as shirts and the like.

The primary object of my inventionis to devise a simple. and improved collar bracing and supporting device adapted to be conveniently inserted inside the folds of the collar portions of such garments, and in such position as to protect or reinforce the collar portions and at the same time permit the same to yield into a more or less flatly compacted relation for reducing the space required for bundling or packing purposes. I

Accordingly I have devised an improved form of collar support adapted to be constructed of suitable card board material and of a size designed to extend an ample distance inside the folds of a garment collar, and so constructed at the front of the collar .as to maintain a moderately stiff supporting action while at the same time yielding to a slight degree in the usual handling of the same for packing and wrapping purposes.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a neat and handy construction of attractive design, for lending a becoming appearance to the collar portion of the garment when the device has been placed in its operative position within the folds ofthe collar.

With the foregoing general object in view, the invention will now be described by reference to the accompanying drawing illustrating one .practical and efficient form of construction which I have devised for embodying my improvement, after which the esscntially'novel features comprising my invention will be set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawing Figure 1 is a perspective view of a collar-attached form of shirt having the present improved form of collarsupporting device inserted within the collar portion of said shirt in the requiredsupporting relation thereto;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the collar-supporting device in separate detached relation; and

Figure 3 is a sectional detail view representing a section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 on an enlarged scale.

have been very widely adopted and are in quite general use throughout the garment manufacturing and launder-,-

sults in a corresponding increase in depth or bulk of the garment, for which allowance must be made in connection with any subsequent handling or packaging proc- Collar supporting devices of the type herein involved 2,870,945 Patented Jan. 27, 1959 esses, thereby involving some practical disadvantage or drawback in connection with those operations where the usual or conventional types of collar supports are used.

Accordingly it is the purpose of my invention to provide an improved design of collar support, of a simple and practical construction which will carry out the essential supportingand bracing function to the necessary extent, and at the same time permit a certain degree of yielding action to allow the garment collar structure to accommodate itself to a somewhat settled or less fullyupright position.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing in detail, the present improved collar-supporting device is illustrated as comprising a strip or section of suitable cardboard or similar material, of relatively stiff but slightly flexible properties, in the form of a strip or band 10 of generally V-shaped contour, as represented in Figure 2. This strip or band is of an appropriate length, so that when inserted between the inner neckband portion 12 and the outer fold portion 14 of the collar 16 of a collarattached shirt 18, the said strip or band will extend substantially half way around the opposite sides of said collar 16, as clearly shown in Figure l of the drawing.

Preferably the upper edge of the strip or band ltl is formed at the middle portion thereof with a notch or recess 20, which is adapted to be positioned at the front or meeting ends of the collar 16 when the band has been inserted within the collar, as represented. in Figure l, in which position the upper outer corners of said notch 20 provide points 21 which are thus suitably designed to engage the crease or turned edge 22 of the collar and thereby operate to hold the meeting end portions of the collar in their proper meeting relation as shown in said Figure 1. I

Opposite said notch or recess 20 the strip or band 10 is formed with a relatively wider midportion in which a tongue-shaped portion 24 is produced by a pair of slits 26 cut in upwardly converging relation and terminating some distance below said notch 20. The said tongueshaped portion 24 thus projects to some distance below the lowermost portion of the bottom edge of the band and is thus shaped to permit a certain degree of relative movement between said tongue portion and the remainder of the band and thereby allow a corresponding degree ofyielding or limited settling action of the middle portion of the band as a whole along with the front ends of the collar.

From this description of my improved device, and the manner in which it is adapted to be used as illustrated by the drawing, it will be clear that its use is well adapted to serve the intended purpose, that of producing an appreciably greater degree of compactness of the collarattached portion of the garment, for bundling and packaging operations, without loss or any diminishing of any of the protective functions of the device as regards shielding and preserving of the lines and folds of the collar structure throughout the folding and subsequent handling of the garment.

It is moreover pointed out that the form of the device and its initial state adapt it for ready insertion into place Within the collar early in the finishing process and prior to the folding operation, where it remains throughout the subsequent operations of folding and the later bundling and packing of the garment.

It will also be apparent and understood that the bracing tongue element may be of any preferred design type adapted to lend an attractive and becoming appearance to the collar front of the finished garment. Obviously, therefore, various different tongue designsmay be formed by different types of slit arrangements, the essential or primary object being to provide either a single or mul- 3 of settling. movement of the middle portion of the supporting band along with the front end portions of the collar, as herein set forth. 7

From the foregoing therefore it will be quite manifest that I have devised a practical and eflicient type of device for fulfilling the general-purpose of the invention; and while I have illustrated and described one suitable form of embodiment of the device in detail, I desireto reserve the right' to make such obviousmodifications as may fairly fall within the scope ofthe appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is:

1. A collar supporting device for collar-attached shirts, comprising a band or strip of relatively stiff and slightly flexible material, of a length sufficient to span the space between the front meeting end-portions of the collar and also project between the inner and outer folds thereof a distance substantially halfway around each of the opposite sides of the collar, the middle portion of said band or strip being cut by converging slits forming a tongueshaped portion projecting from a location near the upper margin of the band to some distance below the lower edges of the band at the opposite sides of said tongue shaped portion.

2. A collar supporting device for collar-attached shirts, comprising a band or strip of relatively stiff and slightly flexible cardboard material, of a length sufficient to span the space between the front meeting end portions of the collar and also project betweenthe inner and outer folds thereof a distance substantially halfway around each of the opposite sides of the collar, the upper margin of References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSL 1,911,638 Milburn May 30, 1933 2,248,849 Calder et a1. July 8, 1941 2,560,684 Calder July 17, 1951 Kohl et a1 Mar. 4, 1952 

